Honda Classic

Adamhad a final round of even par 70 to lift the Honda Classic trophy with a -9 under par winning total.

Adam admitted he missed some putts, but fortunately no one could catch him on the day;

“I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. Fortunately, it was enough at the end.”

“It’s a good feeling to just hit a putt, see it go in the hole, I got off to a dream start.”

“I think it’s just a calming thing, to go out and birdie the first hole of the day is a huge, calming factor.”

“To see a putt go in is all you want to see early in the round, especially Sunday, when you’re leading.”

“You just want to know that the hole’s there and it’s possible to make one. That was a nice putt there, and I got a good read off Sergio, because he had charged it by.”

“I knew it was quick and I just dropped it in the front, and that set me up for a really nice start.”

My question is, how can it be a good putt, if it doesn’t go in ?

Tied at the top with Adam at the start of play was Sergio Garcia, sadly he could make nothing of the opportunity, carding +1 over par 71, to finish in second place at -8 under. His four-year PGA Tour winless drought continues.

Third place was shared between Blayne Barber and Justin Thomas, both at -5 under par for the competition. Blayne could not improve on yesterday’s score, returning a final round of even par 70, while Justin carded -1 under par 69 for his total.

Like this:

Adam Scott sinks to recording a seven at a par three, Sergio Garcia grinds through his day and Rickie Fowlerretreats with an over par third round at the Honda Classic.

Sergio and playing partner Adam/ Getty Images

Amazingly Sergio -3 under 69 today, and Adam -4 under 66, share the lead, at -9 under par after this dramatic day going through the Bear Trap in the third round of the Honda Classic.

It has been a while since either of them has won on Tour, and Adam spoke about the seven and his desperation after not winning for two years;

“I think we’re both pretty desperate to have a win Sunday, after putting ourselves in this position.”

“So hopefully we both play well and it’s a good show.”

“I think I’ve experienced things along those lines plenty of times in this game.”

“And you know, really didn’t hit too many bad shots to make a 7. That’s how challenging holes like 15, 16 and 17 are.”

“I grinded out a 4 on 16 after a sloppy tee shot, and then back to hitting really good shots on 17.”

“It’s what you have to do to stay in golf tournaments.”

“It could easily fall apart, and go from a commanding position to struggling to be in the tournament tomorrow.”

“That’s what you have to do, just keep grinding until the round’s over.”

Sergio has not won on Tour for four years, and he gets uptight when it’s mentioned, he did have a win in Vietnam last year;

“There’s something that I don’t like, and when I hear guys say, oh, yeah, you won, yeah, you won in Vietnam or you won in Qatar, but you haven’t won on the PGA TOUR.”

“It feels like, you know, those wins don’t mean anything, and you know, it’s such a wrong comment.”

“Every win, every victory is difficult. It doesn’t matter, even if it’s against your father on your home course. Every single victory is tough.”

“There’s a lot of great players out in the world today, and you know, the victory in Vietnam wasn’t easy. I had to play well to get that. And the victory in Qatar, same thing.”

“A win is a win. It doesn’t matter where it is. To me at least, they all mean a lot, and a PGA TOUR win doesn’t mean more than others. They all mean a lot.”

“I think we both will be wanting it badly if it gets to that, and hopefully it will get to that.”

“We’ll see what happens. At the end of the day, what I have to do is go out there and keep playing well, give myself a shot at it, and you know, then destiny will tell us.”

Of course there is a good reason that neither of them has won in recent times, they are both suspect in the putting department. Sergiowith the frail claw grip that always lets him down under pressure, and Adam, who is trying to get back to using a proper putter, also uses that same style of grip.

Given that they have a four shot lead over the field one of them should win tomorrow, I will be watching with fascination.

Third place belongs to Blayne Barber, at -5 under par, and looking at today’s results he must feel he has a good chance to win.

Rickiewill be kicking himself after today’s round +4 over par 74, when a good round would have him somewhere near the top, instead of five back at T4.

Like this:

Rickie Fowler rises to the top of the Honda Classic leaderboard at PGA National.

Rickie Fowler / Getty Images

Rickie achieved top spot at the Honda Classic with a second consecutive -4 under par 66, for a -8 under par total, needing only 26 putts in the second round;

“I’ve been swinging well.”

“It’s nice to hit fairways, hit greens, especially in places like this where it’s very demanding tee-to-green.”

Jimmy Walker finished birdie-eagle to cap his second round off, carding -4 under par 66 and secure second place on his own at -7 under par. He made an unlikely birdie on the difficult par four 9th hole, after an indifferent tee shot into the right rough, making a great putt;

“It was big, I didn’t hit a very good drive there and caught a good break in the rough and hit a great shot.”

“Finally made a good putt. Got a good read, made a putt.”

In third place on his own at -6 under is Sergio Garcia, with a more modest second round total of -1 under par 69.

Sergio missed the cut at Riviera, but this week his putter is working OK;

“Yeah, it feels good, just one bad putt on the first hole, I hit too hard and my second putt was good.”

Adam Scott is in contention again, at -5 under par, and playing well, and is getting more confident;

“Last week kind of confirmed that things were on the right track.”

“I definitely saw things I wanted, a couple things I wanted to work on after last week that I felt under the heat of contention Sunday weren’t as good as I would like.”

“Tried to work on them a little bit Monday and Tuesday. They feel good so far, so we’ll test it again this weekend.”

“It’s starting to get really solid, and I’ve got to just keep doing that and let the confidence build.”

“That’s how you get to a major and guarantee you can put yourself in that position Sunday with a chance, and that’s what I did for a few years, and I’d like this to be the start of that run.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Rory McIlroy has missed the cut, it seems that the top players in the World have lost their Mojo. Phil Mickelson got in on the number +3 over par.

Like this:

There are two players tied at the top of the Honda Classic leaderboard as play was suspended due to darkness.

Sergio Garcia / Getty Images

Sergio Garciaand Michael Thompsonshare the first round lead, -5 under par 65, at the Honda Classic as darkness brought pay to an early end on day one at PGA National.

It’s been a while since we had anything to write about for Sergio, today he made a great Eagle at the par four 2nd hole, with an 8 iron from 142 yards, but the real excitement came after he found the water on the 6th. The lake contained an alligator and Sergio was more concerned with him than getting the ball out of the water;

“I was more worried about the alligator that was on the other side of the island than getting out of the water.”

“The ball, I could see probably half of it, so I knew that I could get it out.”

“Almost made four, which would have been a great four. I’m not going to lie, I was happy with a five.”

“I didn’t come in with a lot of confidence, for sure, you are wondering a little bit, because usually my long game, it’s up there, and even when I’m not playing great, I still can manage to get around it.”

“But last week, I felt out of sorts. I didn’t know what was going on.”

William McGirt and Rickie Fowler share second place at -4 under par after carding opening rounds of 66.

Rickie was happy to have had an afternoon tee time, because the wind had died down some by then, but he really needed to have putted better;

“I think we got a good break playing in the afternoon today.”

“I think the wind laid down a little bit for us. I know the guys had a tough time this morning and the course was not easy.”

“Still didn’t play easy out there for us. I felt like I swung it really well tee-to-green.”

“Would have been nice to putt a little better, but still a nice, solid round to start off the week.”

Williamwas happy just to be in red numbers;

“Anything in the red is good around this place.”

“At four under, I would say it was bordering on great.”

“This place is never easy, even when it’s calm. You can’t fall asleep on any shot out here.”

Like this:

Paddy Harrington wins the weather-beaten Honda Classic in a play-off against the 21-year-old rookie Daniel Berger at PGA National in Florida.

Paddy Harrington/ Getty Images

Paddy and Danielfinished the Honda Classic tied at the top of the leaderboard on -6 under par. Paddy with a final round of even par while Daniel carded -6 under par 64.

In the end Paddyparred the second play-off hole, the 190 yard par three 17th hole , a bit of an anti-climax really, I think you can tell that by his reaction to winning in the picture above, seeing that this is his first victory in more than six years;

“Believe it or not, when I get in contention I can still hit the shots.”

Russell Knox, Paul Caseyand Ian Poulter tied in second place at -5 under par. Ian probably should have won this tournament, apart from a major stuff up on the 14th hole, where he carded a 7 after hitting two balls into the water. He actually put five balls into the water during his final round of +5 over par 75;

Poults sadly reported;

“The good is good enough to win. I know that,”

“It’s just bitterly disappointing to put myself in the position I have, to play as well as I’ve played, and a couple of loose shots has cost me this tournament. It’s a shame to hand tournaments away. I’ve handed one away this week.”

Like this:

The third round finally got completed and two Brits sit at the top on the Honda Classic leaderboard, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter as the final round gets suspended due to darkness.

Ian Poulter / Getty Images

Poultshas played seven last round holes and Paul nine, both sit on top of the Honda Classic leaderboard at -7 under par for the title as the tournament heads into a Monday finish.

Poults had his problems in the final round today, he shanked his tee shot on the par 3 fifth and watched helplessly as it bounced off a cart path and plunged into the water, it ended in a double bogey. He followed that by pulling his next tee shot into the water before eventually settling for bogey, and would not report his words to the press. He followed that experience with a birdie on seven;

“It’s not for newspaper or Internet worthy, I was pissed. I was seriously pissed.”

“It was a lack of concentration, I tried to take too much off an 8‑iron and hit a beautiful shank.”

“I was internally very angry, shall we say. And when I do that, obviously my heart rate goes up slightly and obviously that sometimes is what it needs to kick in the adrenaline.”

“So the shot on 7 was fueled with adrenaline, because I was so pissed off.”

“It was a good swing, I guess it’s been a long day, a long few days and I was just saying to my son, Luke, right there, look what happens when you forget to concentrate. Silly things happen.”

“Tiring, and made a couple of really bad swings on 5 and 6. But that kind of angered me inside enough to spark a little bit of energy there to hit a good shot on 7.”

Paulwanted to keep going, he hates a break in momentum;

“I thought the wind was favorable, so I thought I would get on with it, the lie is not great. I might be against the collar in the rough.”

“It just breaks up momentum, some guys will carry it through to Monday. Others won’t and that’s very difficult to predict.”

“You just hope you wake up tomorrow and you feel like you’ve got the same kind of golf swing and the putts are going in the hole.”

“I never like to look back, but I feel like when I was playing some great golf in 2009, 2010, it feels like that kind of stuff.”

“Probably even more so than that time in my golf career because off the golf course, I’m so relaxed and happy with where I’m at with (wife) Pollyanna and (son) Lex.”

“It feels great. I think the combination of being extremely happy off the course and confidence on the course, I think I’m maybe playing as good golf, if not better than I’ve played in the past.”

Patrick Reed is in third position at -6 under par, so far in his final round he is at even par through seven holes, but it will be long day tomorrow, with a lot at stake and the pressure will be on everybody.

There is a posse of five players at -4 under par, including Phil Mickelson, so anything could happen.

Like this:

At the conclusion of play of the suspended 2nd Round Padraig Harrington sits on top of the Honda Classic leaderboard at -7 under par. Play was then suspended at the start of the third round due to the threat of lightning.

Padraig Harrington / Getty Images

Padraig has completed two rounds of the Honda Classic and is at the top of the leaderboard going into round three at -7 under par, following his 66.

He said golf is fun, and fascinating;

“I’m fascinated with the game, I love it. It’s a different sort of fun, yeah.”

“I think I’m in a good place that I can deliver more performances like this.”

“I feel like there’s good days ahead, so, you know, I’m not thinking, Oh, I’ve got to do it and it will be a long time before it comes around again.”

“I feel I’m in a good place with my game and I feel I give myself plenty of opportunities like this going forward.”

Patrick Reedis in second place at -6 under par, the same score he finished round two with yesterday.

Ian Poulter and Brendan Steeleare tied in third position at -5 under par. Ian has been using a fang-dangled putting machine in practice, and he said it seems to be working;

“Right now it’s working pretty good.”

“The way I feel about my game, I’m hitting good shots, I’m holing a few putts and obviously if you’re going to do that, then you’ve got half a chance.”

“My mental side, I feel confident, provided I keep doing the right things, I keep working on straightening those areas that are weaker than my strengths and if I do that, then obviously I’m hoping I can improve.”

Phil Mickelson is in contention, a second round of -3 under par 67 giving him a -2 under par total, he commented on the stop – start play, and extra holes on the day;

“I think that if you get into a good rhythm for the day, you get extra holes to play, and I think that guys that have a hot hand, instead of playing 18, they have a chance to play 27, 31 or 32.”

“I think it could be a real benefit if you’re playing well.”

“You get greens like this that are just perfect condition and very soft movement around the holes and you’re going to make a lot of putts, it just builds confidence.”